New York.
Nestled amidst the verdant canopy of the villa district, an unpretentious, vintage mansion slowly emerged from the morning shadows into the soft sunlight.
Seven... eight... nine... lsabella Adams, returning from her best friend's abode, ascended the stairs, her steps light and her spirits high.
Her chestnut locks cascaded in soft waves down to her waist, framing a face of pure allure and a figure that turned heads. But it was her eyes, a pair of brilliant and vivacious orbs, that outshone everything around her.
Eleven... she reached her destination.
At the door to the second-floor bedroom, lsabella automatically stretched out to twist the knob, only to find it locked from within.
Evan Baker never locked the door... Puzzled, she rummaged through her purse and eventually produced the key.
The key slid into the lock, and with a soft click, the door swung open.
Buoyant with joy, lsabella was about to step inside when a symphony of lewd whispers and moans stopped her cold.
A woman's voice punctuated with breathless gasps filtered through the air, "Are you sure your sweetie pie won't catch us... Ah, gently now."
The male voice that followed nearly floored lsabella, "She's at a friend's shindig; she won't be back this early." A patronizing chuckle followed, as he seemed to caress the woman, "Calm down, you minx."
Once more, the room filled with the woman's muffled cries and the man's deepening grunts...
lsabella stood petrified, her blood surging to her head.
Evan, the man she'd loved and dated for four years, was cheating on her?!
And from their candid exchange, this wasn't his first rodeo. Evan seemed utterly untroubled by his duplicity.
Had all his sweet nothings been nothing but lies?
Betrayal's scorching fury propelled lsabella inside. True to her fears, she found a naked couple entwined on the bed, their activities enough to make one blush and the heart race.
He had actually brought home a stranger for this sordid affair!
Gazing at the disheveled bedsheets, the fruits of her own labor now trampled underfoot, lsabella's nails dug into her palms, her anger a hair's breadth from detonation. "What do you think you're doing?!"
The woman on the bed let out a startled cry, finally noticing the third wheel in the room. She yanked the quilt over her head in a panic.
Evan, however, seemed oblivious to lsabella's presence. He tenderly brushed the woman's cheek, "What's there to hide?" His movements never ceased.
It was only after a guttural moan and the climax of his deed that he rose, nonchalantly drying himself off in front of lsabella without a care.
"Can't you make a little noise when you walk? You're going to scare me impotent one of these days." Evan's tone was laced with disdain.
He'd grown weary of her; there was no need to maintain his gentleman facade any longer.
Facing Evan's brazen nudity, lsabella flushed with a mix of shame and rage. She turned her back to him, "Cover yourself!"
Evan dressed with meticulous leisure, then coolly snapped his fingers, delivering his parting shot, "Ladies, it's time to leave my room. We're through."
"What?" lsabella's fury ignited in an instant. She pointed a trembling finger at the figure huddled under the quilt, "Don't you think you owe me an explanation? Who is she?!"
She had expected Evan to apologize profusely, to claim it was a mistake, but he couldn't even be bothered to offer an excuse.
Was their four-year bond so easily discarded?
Evan's gaze on the woman was one of playful defiance, "Her? She's my current flame."
lsabella was seething, her finger now directed at her own nose, "And what am I?"
To her astonishment, Evan replied with a shrug, "You're an old flame."
The sharp crack of a slap echoed as lsabella's palm connected with Evan's cheek.
"Player!" Her eyes blazed with fury.
How dare he wear his philandering ways like a badge of honor? lsabella felt a surge of revulsion.
And to think she shared a type with the woman in black stockings?
The slap barely registered a flinch from Evan. With arms crossed, he watched lsabella with a casual air, "You've got ten minutes to gather your stuff. If you're not done by then, I'll dump everything in the bin." He glanced at his watch, "Oh, and take those 'treasures' you gave me with you."
They had been living together for two years, and lsabella had moved all her luggage to his place. But he actually called the gifts she gave him crappy things?
lsabella fought back a bitter laugh, "I wouldn't take back the luggage that's been tainted by a playboy. Let it rot in the trash where it belongs."
His face contorted with fury, Evan's hand flew up, but lsabella was already moving towards the door. "As for my gifts," she tossed over her shoulder, "they were trash the moment they touched your hands. You can dispose of them as you see fit."
With that, she hurled the key at his feet, the metal clinking against the floor. "Evan, may we never cross paths again."
Pride had always been her armor, her spine unyielding. It wasn't until she stepped through the gates of the Dou residence that her composure shattered, tears streaming down her cheeks like pearls from a broken necklace.
How could she not grieve? She had invested four years of her life in that man. But lsabella was a woman who would sooner face defeat than surrender her pride. She would shatter before she would bend.
Waving her hand to flag down a passing car, her voice was resolute, "Just drive. Anywhere but here."
